Porky and Bess

by Ellen Weiss, Mel Friedman, Marsha Winborn (Illustrator)

Porky is messy. . . morning, noon, and night. Bess is perfect in every way imaginable—from her well-appointed cupboard to the figure eights she skates at the local pond. But somehow these two unlikely friends complement one another like tea and toast. So when Porky finds himself in a pickle—he can’t finish writing his poem and the secret ingredient from his favorite recipe is missing—who is there to lend a hand? Bess, of course! The everyday adventures of these two very different friends will delight newly independent readers who are ready for some funny, episodic storytelling.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Childrens

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Ellen Weiss has written lots of books for kids, from board books through middle grade. She often works with her husband, Mel Friedman.

Reviews

[John D Harbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the poem that Porky wrote. I also liked the detail about Porky leaving his socks around the house because it reminds me of someone I know. I'm not decided if I like the part about adding moonlight to the cake or foggy night on the water.

[Sarah Roberts Lundy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strange storyline. Better books for my young readers.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Porky and Bess

Porky and Bess is the story of two best friends--Porky, a bachelor pig, and Bess, a single mother with three kittens. They could not be more different, and really, I could not puzzle out why they were friends, or if they are even good friends to each other.

The very first picture in Chapter One shows Porky and Bess both looking incredibly depressed--not a very pleasant beginning to a story that is supposedly about best friends. Bess doesn’t like to take her kittens to Porky’s house because it is messy, which is fine with Porky, because he doesn’t like Bess’s kittens anyway. While baking a moon cake in Chapter Four, Porky realizes he’s run out of moonlight. When Bess offers to get and lend him some moonlight that she has, Porky says, “‘I don’t want to bother you,” [b]ut really, he didn’t mind bothering her to get some nighttime for for his cake.’”

This pair lacks the charm of other easy reader duos. I would suggest sticking with Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge, and Elephant and Piggy instead.

[Jaimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Porky and Bess is a story about a Pig and a Cat who are friends. One is messy and one is very clean. They have their disagreements but they are friends anyway. This book is a Step into Reading Level 4 and would be good for students who can read by them selves but are not quite ready for larger chapter books.

[carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended Ages: grades 2-3

Despite their differences, Porky the messy pig and Bess the fussy cat are best friends and support each other in all their endeavors, from poetry writing to cake baking.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too cute!

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Porky's poem. A book about friendship.

7/16/17 Read with Julia.
11/30/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.
2/10/21 Read with Julia

[Amahla · Rating 2 out of 5]

We are trying out these easy readers to encourage dd to read by herself. It's kind of working.